In computer graphics systems and the like, input devices such as light pens and digitizing tablets allow users to place the coordinates of the position of a hand-held stylus into the display memory of a computer. Thus, users can define successive locations in order to draw lines or bands of color on a video display. However, since these devices only digitize the location of a single point or a few points within the time of a single video frame, other features of the line, such as its texture and width, cannot be made dependent on hand orientation and pressure in the way that lines painted with a brush or other adjustable graphic arts tool or with the fingers themselves are. Therefore, users accustomed to drawing complex and orderly patterns by the rapid placement of individually structured strokes of such tools cannot achieve those effects with currently available computer graphic input devices.